"One of the most disturbing facts that came out in the [Adolf] Eichmann trial was that a psychiatrist examined him and pronounced him perfectly sane. I do not doubt it at all, and that is precisely why I find it disturbing.
If all the Nazis had been psychotics, as some of their leaders probably were, their appalling cruelty would have been in some sense easier to understand. It is much worse to consider this calm, 'well-balanced,' unperturbed official conscientiously going about his desk work, his administrative job which happened to be the supervision of mass murder. He was thoughtful, orderly, unimaginative. He had a profound respect for system.
The sanity of Eichmann is disturbing. We equate sanity with a sense of justice, with humaneness, with prudence, with the capacity to love and understand other people. We rely on the sane people of the world to preserve it from barbarism, madness, destruction. And now it begins to dawn on us that it is precisely the sane ones who are the most dangerous.
The whole concept of sanity in a society where spiritual values have lost their meaning is itself meaningless."
Thomas Merton, Raids on the Unspeakable
"One of the primary characteristics of narcissists is their exaggerated sense of entitlement. It's hardly surprising then that so many politicians somehow think they 'deserve' to game the system. After all, from their self-interested perspective, isn't that what the system is for? In their heavily self-biased opinion, if they want something, by rights it should be theirs. So, nothing if not opportunistic, they take from public and private coffers alike whatever they think they can get away with.
And given their grandiose sense of self, they're inclined to believe they can get away with most anything. Exploiting their privileged position in such a manner hardly leaves them plagued with guilt. In general, guilt isn't an emotion they're prone to. How could they be if they feel entitled to the objects of their desire? I n their minds their very ability to attain something must certainly mean it was merited."
Leon F. Seltzer
"There is no clean way to make a hundred million bucks. Somewhere along the line guys got pushed to the wall, nice little businesses got the ground cut out from under them. Decent people lost their jobs. Big money is big power, and big power gets used wrong. It's the system.
The tragedy of life, Howard, is not that the beautiful die young, but that they grow old and mean."
Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye
And so we had another FOMC announcement today.
The Fed is clearly teeing up a tapering of their bond purchases.
I think the focus will be on the September Jobs Report.
Gold was a little lower on the cross Dollar trade.
Silver edged up a bit with stocks, which rallied.
The market is trying to have this both ways.
I think the downside risks for equities will remain pronounced though to November.
Have a pleasant evening.
